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Inch, metric or both?

12K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  cwo4uscgret 
#1 ·
ok, at risk of sounding stupid, im trying to rebuild my FAL L1A1 into a highly to moderatly accurate rifle. the problem im having is i cant figure out what kind of parts to put on it. its an Imbel lower receiver which im pretty sure is metric and and the upper is metric as well... i think. but from my research, it looks as though the gas block is inch. so what is the deal. is this possible to mix and match? the gun, as it stands now, pretty much operates flawlessly so can anybody help me out with this one?
 
#6 ·
My first FAL was a Century L1a1 "Sporter", which consisted of a surplus British L1a1 parts kit, ugly thumbhole stock, and a metric Imbel receiver that was modified to accept an inch-pattern charging handle.

Since Century cut off the last inch of threaded barrel, my options for installing a flash suppressor were to either purchase a new L1a1 barrel (expensive), have a gunsmith re-thread the muzzle (still expensive), or to do something that would make Bubba proud. I chose the latter. Purchased a used L1a1 flash suppressor and some JB Weld. Yep, I epoxied it in place. Has worked great for a decade now.

Since thumbhole stocks stopped being a legal requirement, I rather hastily purchased a real L1a1 pistol grip and buttstock. Unfortunately, while in the process of installing them, I discovered that Century removed the pistol grip stud on the lower receiver. :cry:

I ended up trading the inch pattern lower receiver for a used metric one. Problem seemed to be solved.. However, it was immediately obvious that the metric rear sight was on a lower plane than the inch front sight. Though I never tried it, I suspect that it could be adjusted no better than twenty feet low at a hundred yards. :cry:

Have just recently learned that Israeli rear sights are 4mm higher than other metric rear sights, so hopefully that will fix the iron sight problem (part is still on backorder).

Anyhow, so now we have a parts gun with a metric lower and an inch upper. Ugly as all get out, due mainly to the inch pattern handguard. Solution: replace the British handguard with one of the few handguards on the market that will fit both inch and metric rifles. This ended up being a Tapco T48 style handguard (the T48 was the main competition against the M14 during the rifle trials of pre-Vietnam days).

The end result looks pretty cool. The only remaining parts from the initial purchase is the upper receiver and the barrel.

Keep in mind that if you remove the thumbhole stock from a Century L1a1 "Sporter" and put a pistol grip and flash suppressor on it, you will need to add the appropriate number of 922r compliance parts.
 
#7 ·


What once was isn't anymore! My L1A1 with IMBEL receiver; a Century Sporter that the last owner started to convert to an L1A1. It is mixed with metric and inch parts as well; but now that I know that - well it works. It had an Israeli rear sight, I couldn't bring the rounds down into the scoring ring at 100 yards until James, the Gun Parts Guy, sent me a new rear sight. Now I can at least put rounds on paper at 100 yards and count the score! I threaded the barrel myself and added the "muzzle protector" and the hand guard is a T-48 style. (What the US Army tested way back when...)

I now have an FN/FAL bipod on it (and need new pictures). With a STANAG scope mount and a Mueller Tactical 9-16x50 scope that 10 ring looks like 3 feet across at 100 yards! I will delink some of my Lake City 7.62 and go shoot it and take some photos.
 
#8 ·
cwo4uscgret said:
What once was isn't anymore!
you know, i pretty much despised those plastic T48 handguards (and especially the buttstock they put out with them) until you posted that rifle.
just my personal taste, of course, but it actually looks alot less hideous (TO ME) with the marynyl butt & pg how you have it.

cwo4uscgret said:
I now have an FN/FAL bipod on it
mounted on the barrel? does it work w/the HG?

nice work...enjoy it! :?
 
#9 ·
in actuality

I took the T48 hand guard off...put the plastic pebble grained triangular shaped ones back on! I haven't been to the range to shoot the L1A1 since I changed its configuration. I will let you know how it functions; if you don't know it already, the bipod is a fun accessory to install!
 
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